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Accessing mountains is, by nature, a difficult task, as is getting around once you're there. But these tourism partners are offering incentive measures and solutions that are timely in an economical as well as an ecological sense.
Mountain Riders: A (re)active organization for sustainable mountain development.
This independent initiative has the mission of helping players in the mountain tourism industry become more sensitive and mobilized by offering methodologies and through publishing an eco-guide (2 guides are available: equipment and lodges). The association also conducts censuses and analyzes their results, notably with the goal of reducing automobile traffic on mountain routes. Still, it realizes that cars will often have to remain by necessity, as they’re the most commonly used method of transport and account for 75% of CO2 emissions. But it is possible to significantly reduce the impact of your trip: you can divide your impact by 10 by taking a city bus, or divide it by 100 by taking the high-speed TGV train.
According to Mountain Riders’ studies, between 20 and 34% of French ski areas give priority to “navette” (shuttle-bus) systems either between train stations and ski areas, or within ski areas.
Indeed, those resorts that are lucky enough to be located not far from a TGV train station are interested in promoting these bus connections (sometimes €5 in the Jura, or €35 round-trip in the Southern Alps, where the route is longer).
And those that display decentralized town planning are interested in developing day parking and an intra-resort bus service with a modest or even free fare, such as Vars, les Houches (French only), and others. The ideal goal is still to offer a pedestrian center: One-third of resorts have developed them or were designed to include them from the start, including Avoriaz, Valmorel, and others. Another alternative: encouraging carpooling for those coming to the resort from nearby large cities.
Reduced Prices on Fixed-Rate Ski Passes for Carpoolers
Les Gets (Haute-Savoie): drive-in
Valid on weekends, the “3+1=3” formula (25% off the price of four fixed-rate day passes or half-day passes, within the Gets/Morzine resort) rewards skiers who have four passengers in one vehicle: note is made at the entrance of the “drive-in” parking of Perrières.
La Plagne (Savoie): auto-skiing
The concept of “auto-skiing” promises a discount of €15.90 on a fixed-rate day pass for three passengers travelling in the same car (available for purchase at the Aime exit, on the access road to the La Plagne resort).
Aravis Resorts (Haute-Savoie): Mobilalp
A new shuttle-bus service between Annecy and the resorts of Clusaz and Grand Bornand offers six departures Saturday and Sunday for nearby skiers, at a rate of €27, including a fixed-rate day pass!
Examples of Connected Initiatives
The shared taxi of Aillons-Margériaz (Bauges Massif)
The tourism office has entered a partnership with two local taxi contractors to offer a fixed-rate service for the route from Chambéry-les Aillons (half an hour), and to accept “group” fares. For example: €55 for two people, €64 for four people.
The Vaujany free weekend navette (shuttle-bus)
This resort in the Oisans charges itself “unconditionally” with the costs of a shuttle-bus, departing from Grenoble every Saturday and Sunday in winter: everyone can travel the route (45 minutes one-way) free of cost in order to benefit from all the activities (fee-based, of course) of the resort.
Valley Connections – Crossing the Resort by Cable Car or Aerial Tram
Some sites in the Pyrenees are configured with an authentic resort inside the valley, and a maintained ski area at their upper reaches accessible either by road or by mechanical lift.
Several Alpine destinations have a duo of “valley-lodge crossings” linked by cable car or funicular and railroad.
Saint-Lary (French only) (Pyrénées)
This lovely village in the Aure valley offers a double connection by cable car (a second and totally new line begins service this winter!): a beautiful alternative to the winding 12-km road that climbs all the way up to Plat d’Adet.
Luchon (Pyrenees)
The cable car directly links the village neslted in the valley to its Super-Bagnères in 8 minutes: a better solution than the 17 km of winding road that reach between 630 and 1,440 meters in altitude!
Les Arcs (Savoie-Tarentaise)
The Arcs 1800 lodge is directly connected by a modern funicular to the arrival TGV train station of Bourg-Saint-Maurice, downhill, at the railroad terminal of the Tarentaise Valley. A major tool.
Brides-les-Bains (Savoie – 3 Valleys)
This “ski and spa” resort is positioning itself as a practical and less-expensive entry point for skiable areas in the three valleys, thanks to its direct connection via cable car to Méribel.
Auron (Alpes du Mercantour)
Leave your car at the parking lot in Saint-Etienne-de-Tinée, a village nestled in the valley, to access the cable car to the Alpes-Maritimes lodge.
Chamonix/Mont-Blanc (French only)
The Mont-Blanc Express train is a local line run by the SNCF (and the Swiss Rail Road) that winds its way through the high valley, and the neighbors of the mountain capital: the lodges of Argentière and Vallorcine, before descending back over the Swiss side towards Martigny. A practical feature that doubles as a superb tourist attraction. The guest card for the Chamonix valley also allows you to travel at your leisure on the train, leaving from Servoz and les Houches, just downstream from Chamonix. The network of shuttle-buses in the valley is also a great alternative to road traffic, at the foot of the most fantastic area for great “wild” skiing: the Mont-Blanc massif.
Saint-Gervais (Haute-Savoie, Pays du Mont-Blanc)
Le Fayet (580 meters in altitude) is the departure point of the TMB (Mont-Blanc Tramway, from the SNCF train station (with high-speed TGV train service directly to Paris): this train climbs up to the village of Saint-Gervais (800 meters in altitude), before climbing the western slopes of Mont-Blanc, towards the ski area at Bellevue (1800 meters in altitude).
Reference Points: “strategic” TGV Stations
For the Savoie Country
- Cluses, Sallanches, and le Fayet/Saint-Gervais for the resorts of the Mont-Blanc country (Megève, Saint-Gervais, Chamonix, etc.) and the sites of the Grand Massif (Flaine, Morillon, etc.)
- Thonon for the “Portes du Soleil” (Avoriaz, Morzine, Châtel, etc.)
- Moûtiers, Aime, and Bourg-Saint-Maurice for the Tarentaise and its multiple star lodges (Paradiski, 3 Vallées, Espace Killy, etc.)
- Modane for the valley of Maurienne (Val Fréjus, Valmeinier, Val Cenis, Aussois, La Norma, etc.)
- Annecy, for the Aravis massif (La Clusaz, le Grand Bornand...)
- Chambéry, for the pre-Alpine massifs (Chartreuse, Bauges...)
Example: Orelle, an unassuming lodge of 3 Vallées
Situated on the Maurienne side and linked to the Thorens Valley by cable car, this small lodge is thus an entryway to the Domaine of the 3 Valleys. But, situated just 9km from the TGV station at Modane, it also offers a new tourist residence called Cela Hotels Resorts & Spa.
For the Vosges and the Jura Mountains
- The Remiremont train station is situated on the TGV East line (Reims, Metz, Strasbourg) and makes two round-trip trips each day to Paris, serving the resorts of the Vosges (la Bresse, Gérardmer) in 2 hours and 40 minutes.
- Bellegarde station (near Geneva) or the stations at Frasne (Doubs) and Vallorbe (on the Swiss side) make the trip from Paris to the Jura Mountains (including half an hour or one hour of travel in a shuttle-bus, for €5).
For the Briançonnais
The Oulx station (on the Italian side) allows access in 5 hours to the TGV with direct service to Montgenèvre and to Briançonnais: Serre-Chevalier, etc. Indeed, the TGV (maintained by an off-shoot company from partners SNCF and Trenitalia) passes each day through the Fréjus tunnel (Modane), and stops just on the other side (a 5-hour direct route), then connects to a shuttle bus (1 hour) to the resorts of Montgenèvre and Serre-Chevalier via the border pass.
For Isère
- Grenoble station: serving the massifs of Vercors, Belledonne, and the Oisans. For example: connection for the Deux-Alpes and the Alpe d’Huez in a shuttle-bus. 1 hour and 30 minutes, €5.
For the Pyrenees
The TGV stations at Pau, Tarbes, and Toulouse connect you to resorts in the Pyrenees.
Example: Gourette, including 1.5-hour bus connection, €5.
For the Central Massif
The station at Clermont-Ferrand is located at 50 km from the massif of Sancy. TER trains for Mont-Dore extend the Paris-Clermont line.
Focus on the Southern Alps: “navettes blanches” from the Marseille-Provence Airport.
A regular bus service provided every Saturday during the winter, serving (also via the TGV station at Aix-en-Provence) the Alpine resorts, on the central road of Val de Durance (autoroute A51), for €35 round-trip (about 2 hours).
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